Mighty Sports-Go for Gold Philippines played just hard enough but still beat Indonesia with ease, 94-66, to move onto the threshold of winning the William Jones Cup for the second time yesterday at the Xinzhuang Gym in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
After playing comfy in the second quarter, Mighty-GFG went for the kill in the third and succeeded as they built a commanding 71-43 advantage going into the payoff period.
The Indonesians tried every trick they knew, but they were simply no match to a team with five very good imports and a former PBA star enjoying some moments.
In his best game so far, veteran Josepf Yeo finished with 14 points after making his first three field goals, including back-to-back triples, for the team backed by HealthCube.
Even Aaron Black, son of multi-titled Meralco coach Norman Black, enhanced his resume when he joins the PBA Rookie Draft this year by burying back-to-back triples on the way to eight points.
Despite limited minutes, Eugene Phelps and Renaldo Balkman paced the Charles Tiu-mentored Mighty-GFG with 19 and 17 points, respectively.
With its 6th straight win in as many matches, Mighty-GFG needs only to beat host Taiwan-A tonight to regain the title it won in its initial foray in the annual tournament three years ago.
The best team after the single-round robin elims will be declared champion.
“That’s the moment we are waiting for, we need to win that for the country,” said Mighty Sports owner Alex Wongchuking.
Sporting a 4-1 mark, the Taiwanese were playing against the 2-4 Jordanians while the South Koreans (4-1) were battling with the Japanese (4-1) at presstime.
The Scores:
MIGHTY SPORTS 94 — Phelps 19, Balkman 17, Yeo 14, Moore 8, Black 8, Gray 7, Williams 6, Ndiaye 6, Wongchuking 5, Banal 4, Adams 0, Brickman 0.
INDONESIA 66 — Kokodiputra 21, Muhammad 11, Gemilang 7, Sanjaya 7, Joni 6, Hartanto 4, Wijaya 2, Wicaksono 2, Putra Teja 2, Priasmoro 2, Hadran Noor 2, Hidayat 0.
Quarters: 27-13; 45-30; 71-48; 94-66.